Tales of Concertia
by sour gummies
Summary: In a world where Sylvarant is flourishing and Tethe'alla is in decline, where Martel lived and Mithos Yggdrasil died, everything and nothing is the same. Zelos Wilder, Chosen of Regeneration, must undergo a trial by god to release the seals and restore mana to the land. Sheena, his best friend, vows to protect him on his journey—but there is more at play than either of them know.
1. Start

a/n: I've had the idea for this AU floating around since basically forever, so I finally broke down and started writing it. There's no way I'll ever get through a linear narrative as long as the plot of a _Tales_ game, so instead, I decided to tackle this as a series of one-shots (not necessarily in chronological order) based off different prompts from a table. I DO have part of a vague overarching outline written up, so hopefully the most important details/divergences of this universe will become slowly apparent in due time.

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**#042. "Start"**

_Once upon a time, there existed a giant tree that was the source of mana. A war, however, caused this tree to wither away, and a heroine's life was sacrificed in order to take its place. Grieving over the loss, the god disappeared unto the heavens. The god left the angels with this edict: "You must wake me, for if I should sleep, the world shall be destroyed." The angels bore the Chosen One, who headed towards the tower that reached up unto the heavens. And that marked the beginning of the regeneration of the world._

—

"Sheena Fujibayashi, pay attention!"

"..."

"Sheena!"

A painful-sounding _smack_ echoed deafeningly throughout the small wooden room. With a yelp of surprise, thirteen-year-old Sheena Fujibayashi awoke with a start, her whole body lurching sideways from the force of the blow to the side of her head. After a moment of hapless flailing, she quickly regained her balance on the floor with her legs beneath her. Somehow she had managed to fall asleep kneeling upright, while she was supposed to be listening to Tiga's lecture about the Ancient War. The Vice-Chief stood over her now with his hand still outstretched, looking severe and distinctly unpleased.

"As impressed as I am to see that you've finally mastered the art of sleeping with both eyes open, Sheena, this is not the appropriate time to demonstrate," Tiga told her sternly.

Sheena bowed her head in deference to her instructor, hiding the furious blush that had spread over her face.

"M-My most sincere apologies, Vice-Chief, sir!" she said hastily, folding her hands as a sign of earnest respect. "I swear, I didn't mean you any offense! Is the lecture over?"

It wasn't as though she had _meant_ to fall asleep during her lesson! Sheena couldn't help the fact that she'd been up late last night, tossing and turning on her mat over the fate of a certain red-haired friend in Meltokio who would be arriving in Mizuho today, passing through to Mithos Temple on the Day of Prophecy. Sheena hadn't been able to stop thinking about how drastically everyone's lives were about to change—the start of Zelos's journey had been a long time coming.

On the floor beside Sheena, Kuchinawa snickered. Going even redder, Sheena resolved in the back of her mind to make him pay as soon as Tiga let them off. The other boy could have at _least_ had the decency to wake her up before any harm was done!

These sorts of one-upmanship games between them were very familiar, not least because she and Kuchinawa were the only children in their age range in all of Mizuho. They had grown up together, were nearly as close as siblings, and as Sheena didn't have any parents or relatives besides her adopted grandfather the Chief, she almost considered Kuchinawa's family to be a part of her own. Kuchinawa's parents and older brother, Orochi, were always kind and welcoming to Sheena, but that didn't stop the younger boy from teasing her at every opportunity. He had to rub it in; that he invariably won whenever they fought hand-to-hand.

Kuchinawa wasn't a guardian user like Sheena, though. She hadn't mastered it yet, but she was still the only one in the village who was able to use guardian spirits in battle aside from the Chief.

Tiga sighed loudly, beginning to pace the floor again. "Never mind," he said to Sheena in obvious exasperation. "Perhaps you can answer my question instead, Kuchinawa?"

Kuchinawa stopped laughing immediately. His answer came without hesitation—Tiga and the other adults of Mizuho had made sure their children knew Tethe'allan history almost as well as their survival and combat techniques.

"The Ancient Kharlan War was a devastating conflict that ravaged the land and lasted approximately one thousand years," Kuchinawa said promptly, with an air of having rehearsed the answer many times. "The war was finally brought to an end when the heroine of legend, Martel, entered the Holy Ground of Kharlan and made a pact with the God Mithos to seal away the evil Desians."

"The Desians were the ones who caused the war in the first place, right?" Sheena chimed in, hoping to regain some of her standing in the Vice-Chief's eyes. "The ancient magitechnology that they used depleted large amounts of mana from the world, causing many living things to wither and die."

Tiga nodded. "Those magitechnology are lost to us now, as are the summoning arts," he said gravely. "And likely for the best, too. Even the magic we practice today requires mana in order to work. Mana is the source and giver of all life. Without a plentiful supply, the very existence of our world will be in constant jeopardy."

"And with the Desians back in Tethe'alla, that's exactly what's happening," Kuchinawa said darkly. "I just don't understand it, Vice-Chief! If the Desians and half-elves are the ones responsible for everyone's suffering, why can't we kill them all to make things right again?"

Tiga shook his head. "You are speaking foolishness, Kuchinawa. Not all half-elves are Desians, but nonetheless, they are still far too many in number to be easily defeated. That task must fall to the Chosen One."

Something familiar leapt in Sheena's chest, the same as it always did when Zelos's name came up—or his official title.

"That's right," she said, launching into a familiar narrative about the Chosen. "To seal the Desians when they reappear, like they have now, the Chosen One has to undergo a long trial ordained by the God Mithos. This is known as the 'Journey of Regeneration.' When the Chosen has proven himself worthy to the god, the Summon Spirits protecting Tethe'alla will awaken, and mana will be restored throughout the land."

This was a subject Sheena could rattle off by heart. She'd studied eagerly everything there was to learn about the role and legacy of the Chosen of Tethe'alla, including the legendary Journey of Regeneration. The current Chosen, Zelos, had been Sheena's friend since childhood—and for all his distinctly un-Chosen-like griping and complaining over the years, they had both always known that he was the one destined from birth to regenerate the world. That thought both exhilarated and terrified her. Zelos could definitely be aggravating and a pain, but even if Sheena would never say it aloud, she still cared for him. It was exciting, to imagine him succeeding in his journey and becoming the hero who saved Tethe'alla...but there was also no getting around the fact that the road to world regeneration was dangerous.

She remembered learning about the countless Chosens who had died without succeeding in the past. Zelos's father, the previous Chosen, was among them.

Tiga nodded contemplatively at Sheena's answer, staring down at her with uncharacteristic focus. To her relief, he didn't look angry anymore about her falling asleep.

"That is correct, Sheena," he said. "I'm sure you of all people know very well how important today is, for the Chosen One."

Sheena nodded. She was surprised to find that her voice stuck in her throat for a minute before she could answer.

"It's the Day of Prophecy," she finally managed. "The day Zelos is supposed to receive an oracle from Cruxis."

Kuchinawa snorted softly. "We'll see if it actually happens," he muttered.

Sheena turned to him, shocked. "Kuchinawa! How can you say that? He's the Chosen!"

"Some Chosen One," he scoffed, shaking his head. "All he does is chase girls and act lazy. Someone like him could never save Tethe'alla!"

"You're wrong," she snapped, standing up so she towered over him. "Zelos might be an ass some of the time, but he has a good heart underneath. He'll pass Mithos's trials! He has to!"

He absolutely had to. Sheena didn't know what she would do, if he didn't make it.

Tiga cleared his throat loudly, interrupting their argument. "Settle down, both of you," he said. "I called you here today because there's something I need to discuss with you about the Chosen's journey. Tomorrow, Orochi and I will—"

"Sir!" A new voice interrupted, a sentry who slid open the screen door with undue haste. "Sir, I've been sent for you by Chief Igaguri! The Chosen's entourage has arrived from Meltokio."

"Already?" Tiga asked at once. "So, it is..."

The sentry nodded. "The light of the oracle has appeared in the sky outside the village," he announced. "We are to accompany the Chosen and his priests to Mithos Temple shortly, on the other side of Fooji Mountains."

"Yes, yes, we've made the necessary arrangements," Tiga said. He turned to Sheena and Kuchinawa. "You two wait here for us to return, do you understand?"

"But sir! Orochi and my parents are—" Kuchinawa began, rising, but the Vice-Chief cut him off.

"Orochi is nineteen now, an adult," he said authoritatively. "I understand you know the mountain pass well, Kuchinawa, as any Mizuho native should. But the fact remains that escorting the Chosen to the temple in such a large group will be enough of a risk, without having any extra children running around underfoot. Between the monsters and Desians from the human ranch, we don't need any more difficulties. Have I made myself clear?"

Kuchinawa said nothing. Sheena decided to answer for him. "Yes, Vice-Chief," she said respectfully, bowing.

"Then, we'll be off," Tiga said. "Don't worry, Sheena. You'll see your friend soon, when we get back."

_But then he's going to leave again_, Sheena thought, disheartened, but she was smart enough not to say it out loud.

Tiga nodded at them again and followed the sentry out, sliding the screen door shut behind.

Kuchinawa turned to Sheena immediately. "I'm following them," he said shortly, heading for the hidden door in the opposite wall. "Don't you even think about trying to stop me, Sheena. They can't say my older brother is good enough to go, and I am not!"

"Wait! Kuchinawa!" Sheena said quickly, running after him. "Are you sure this is a good idea? What if you get caught!"

"We're _ninjas_. Good ninjas don't get caught," he reminded her, folding his arms scornfully. "Besides—don't you want to see the oracle, too, Sheena? This sort of thing only happens once in a lifetime."

Sheena did want to see. She had been obsessing about this day, the start of Zelos's destiny as the Chosen, for a long time coming. Now that it was here, she wanted nothing more than to be by her friend's side as long as she could, before his path carried him away from her toward the salvation of Tethe'alla.

"...Fine," she told Kuchinawa reluctantly, sneaking out alongside him through Tiga's hut. Her heart hammered in her chest at the prospect of a new adventure. "Let's go."


	2. Dangerous Territory

a/n: I have a lot of the early story outline written up, so what's _probably_ going to happen with this is that I'll write the first half a dozen segments or so in chronological order. After that, it's anyone's guess.

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**#0****66. "Dangerous Territory**"

"I'll bet you've never even gone outside the village before today, have you, Sheena?" Kuchinawa taunted from somewhere unseen to her left. He was completely concealed from view by a line of trees, as talented a ninja as his older brother.

Hidden herself, Sheena didn't bother with the effort of keeping her face straight. "I have SO left Mizuho before!" she snapped back at her friend, taking care to ensure her voice carried no further than the nearby expanse of brush. "Grandpa took me out here plenty of times to train."

It was hard to keep a steady conversation going while traveling for stealth, as Mizuho children were trained to do from birth. Sheena and Kuchinawa had worked out a method that fell somewhere in the middle, exchanging insults periodically back and forth with one another at opportune moments when their paths crossed side-by-side in the brush. The two of them had been taught always to maintain silence as often as possible while traveling on the mountain pass, to avoid the risk of being detected by monsters and Desians. But, with the temple residing over an hour's hike away from Mizuho, it would have been too boring not to talk at all. The most _important_ thing was that the two of them stayed together.

"The Fooji Mountains hardly count," Kuchinawa answered a moment later, his disdainful voice carrying down to Sheena from the taller branches up ahead. "_Everyone_ in Mizuho has to prove they can navigate the pass before they come of age."

Sheena rolled her eyes at his attitude, secretly comforted by the fact that he'd stuck close enough to talk. He might act like a real jerk sometimes, but Sheena knew Kuchinawa was also fiercely loyal—if the pair of them were to run into any trouble out here, the younger boy would be there fighting at her back to the end.

"Well, that proves it, then! I can navigate the pass just fine," she huffed. "I may not know the mountains as well as you, or Orochi, but I don't need any help finding my way to the temple. That's the only part that matters for—"

"_Sheena!_" he suddenly whispered, startlingly close to her right ear. Sheena jumped back about a meter in fright, whipping her head around wildly to look for him. Her shock gave way quickly to anger once she understood what had happened.

"What's the MATTER with you, you jerk!" she demanded loudly, forgetting her ninja training in a moment of embarrassed rage. "What if somebody had—"

Before she could finish, a bare hand shout out of the trees and covered her mouth to cut her off. "_Quiet!_" Kuchinawa hissed urgently, sounding angry and _worried_, to Sheena's amazement. "Listen, there—due south! Someone's coming!"

Sheena went still immediately, eyes widening. When she strained her ears, she immediately heard what it was that had tipped Kuchinawa off: a number of faint, but unmistakable sounds of clanking armor could be discerned coming somewhere not far down the pass. It sounded like metal helmets and arm gauntlets.

At Kuchinawa's nod, Sheena joined him in melting back further into the trees. They strayed back as far as they dared, from the rocky path that cut diverging routes through the mountain pass toward Mizuho, Mithos Temple, and Meltokio Ranch.

Even at a distance, the metal armaments made a clanking racket that was impossible to confuse with the natural sounds of the mountains. That could mean only one thing.

Nobody in Mizuho would be foolish enough to equip themselves with such noisy gear for traveling in the wilderness, not even for protection. There was no way that any of the priests in the Chosen's entourage would have had the kind of money to afford anything so expensive. The only people who would be walking around the mountain pass garbed in bulky metal armor were the Desians, who operated the human ranch on the other side.

And running into a group of Desians this deep in the Fooji Mountains was bad, bad news for her and Kuchinawa. Sheena was a trained fighter, of course, and Kuchinawa was likely even better—but while she didn't know much about the Desians' training, Sheena _did_ know almost all of them were equipped with Exspheres. With that kind of heavy boost in strength and skill, even two or three Desian soldiers would be more than enough of a match for her and Kuchinawa. And they wouldn't hesitate to kill the them both just because they were kids.

_Damn_, Sheena thought to herself, curling her hands into fists and biting her lip anxiously as the sounds got steadily closer. _Of all the rotten luck!_

She and Kuchinawa weren't safe out here. The Desians had never been shy about expressing their universal scorn for Mizuho and its inhabitants. They had a long history of mercilessly killing any village spies who were unlucky enough to be caught monitoring the Desians' activities around the ranch. Only the presence of the craggy mountain range that stood between Mizuho and the Desian base—and Mizuho's infamous reputation for training every man, woman, and child in its walls the art of deadly combat—were enough to act as deterrents against the Desians raiding them on a daily basis.

But why were the Desians' voices coming _from_ the south instead of going toward it? They were moving in the nearly the opposite direction from the ranch, taking a wrong turn at the nearby intersection that split the two paths. Where were they meaning to...

Realization struck her like a lightning bolt.

"Come on," Sheena whispered, grabbing Kuchinawa's arm and pointing toward the intersection on the pass. "They're taking the path that leads straight to the temple. We'll have to use the other fork."

"But that way leads to the human ranch," Kuchinawa said at once, looking at Sheena like she had lost all sense.

"I know that!" she snapped quickly, struggling to keep her voice down. "We can't risk running into them out here in the woods. We'll have to sneak around the perimeter of the ranch if we want to make it to the temple. If we hurry, we might be able to reach it before the Desians."

Kuchinawa gave her a stunned look. "Are you serious?" he asked blankly.

"We can't take the same path as those guys. They'll see us for sure," Sheena whispered.

"Then let's just go back to the village!"

"We can't, Kuchinawa!" Sheena said angrily, glaring at him hard with an aggressive step forward. "Can't you see it? Why do you think those Desians came all the way out here if their base is back there? They're going to the temple to kill the Chosen!"

Kuchinawa stared at her. "But if we go to the ranch..." he began nervously.

Sheena spun around in the brush away from him, careful not to make any noise. The clanking armor sounds were growing louder every second, the outlines of soldiers appearing distantly on the path. "Forget it. I'll go without you," she snapped quietly with determination.

"Sheena! You, you unbelievable—_stop!_"

But she was already running, vanishing gracefully in the cover of the dense trees. Muttering a curse under his breath in Mithos's name, Kuchinawa cast one more glance around at the Desians on the path, then followed his friend in the direction of Meltokio Ranch.


End file.
